Lemon Rasam - Taste A Different Rasam Each Time

Every traditional South Indian meal will include a rasam that is poured on top of the rice during the final stage of the sadya or the ‘Grand Meal’. As I have mentioned in the earlier post, there are different types of rasams. The usual tamarind tomato rasam was published earlier. So if you need to check out the recipe, you may turn back to the previous posts.

Yet another rasam variation is to be mentioned in this post. Usually rasam is made up of tamarind. But what if you are in short of tamarind? This is where you need to get the right alternative- Lemons. Lemons are tangy like tamarind and have a sour taste quite different from tamarind. This lemon rasam can bring back all the tanginess of traditional rasam in a different style. so do checkout the recipe and let me know the results.

Ingredients

·         Lemons – 2

·         Garlic – 6 cloves

·         Shallots – 6

·         Curry leaves

·         Mustard seeds

·         Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp

·         Pepper powder – ¼ tsp

·         Asafetida – ½ tsp

·         Fenugreek- ¼ tsp

·         Salt

·         Oil

Method

·         Squeeze out the lemon juice and mix it with 3-4 cups of water. You may increase the amount of water if you want to reduce the tanginess

·         Mix suffieinct amount of salt to the lemon solution

·         Take a large kadai and pour oil to it when the kadai is heated

·         Pour some oil and add mustard seeds. Pop the seeds

·         Add curry leaves

·         Now you may add ground shallots and ginger to the oil

·         Saute well

·         Add tomatoes and saute well

·         Now add lemon juice to the kadai

·         Add turmeric power.

·         Pour the lemon juice to the kadai

·         Simmer the flame

·         Add fenugreek powder, asafetida and coriander leaves

·         Let the rasam get heated. Do not boil

·         Serve with rice and enjoy the tangy fun.

Desi Chick Peas Curry

Chick Peas curries are loved by everyone. The spicy chick peas curry which is the specialty of Indian cuisine is a mix of spices that can enlighten anyone’s taste buds. You get two varieties of chick peas in the market. There are the large chick peas that are usually popular among all and the smaller chick peas variety that is called the Desi Chick Pea, which is pretty smaller than the other one.

The one I have chosen for preparing the chick peas curry in the image given above is made out of Desi Chick Peas. This one is smaller and cuter and I really loved it a lot. The packet that I purchased was from the company “Down to Earth” and the label promises itself to be organic. So here we go, trying out the desi chick peas curry for chapattis or puris with the right amount of spices and accompanying ingredients.

Ingredients

• Chick peas (Desi-smaller version) - 500 gm
• Onions – 2 medium
• Green chilies – 2 small
• Tomato – 1 large
• Red chilly powder – 1 ¼ tsp
• Coriander powder – 4 tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Garam masala – ¾ tsp
• Coriander leaves – optional

Method

·         Soak the chick peas in a large vessel with sumptuous amount of water overnight. (4 hours would be fine if you choose to make it in the evening)

·         After 4 hours, drain off the water and clean the chickpeas well

·         Keep it aside

·         Now take out a pressure cooker and place it on top of the stove in high flame

·         Pour oil and add mustard seeds. Pop them

·         Now you may add the finely chopped onions, curry leaves and green chilies to it.

·         Sauté well till onions turn golden brown

·         Add ginger garlic paste and sauté well

·         Now you may add chilly powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder

·         Sauté well

·         Add the soaked chick peas to the cooker and mix the ingredients well

·         Add sufficient salt

·         Pour into the cooker 1 glass of water

·         Close the lid and allow it to cook for 10-15 min

·         First allow the cooker to be on high flame. Let a whistle come. Now you may simmer and cook for some more time.

·         Switch off the flame after 15 min

·         Open the cooker and add water if you need more liquid to the curry

·         Switch on the flame and allow it to boil

·         Add coriander leaves and switch off the flame

·         Remove the contents to a bowl

·         Serve hot with chapattis or puris

·         Enjoy!!

Grinding The Perfect Idly/Dosa Batter

Grinding the perfect Idly Batter is not a big deal for women of the Southern part of India. Since most of the houses in South India make use of this batter on a regular and mostly on a daily basis, it is a necessity for the people of south to learn the right method of grinding the perfect idly or dosa batter.

Earlier as an amateur in kitchen, I found myself struggling with the grinding the idly batter and mostly I failed due to lack of expertise and skill. Gradually I began to master the techniques, as I had said above; it became a necessity for me ;)

You can make use of Grinder or a Mixey for the purpose of grinding idly batter. I usually make it a point to use the grinder. Mine is Ultra wet grinder, and it works pretty well for serving my purpose. The grinder is extremely handy and easy to clean too.

When I am in a hurry, or if I need to grind only a small quantity of batter, then I make use of my Mixer grinder. That one gives you quick batter, but at times, the batter does not come out fluffy or the idlys sometimes stay hard. So my choice would be to go ahead with the large grinder, which gives me perfect results. Checkout the method of grinding the perfect idly batter.

PS: The proportion for rice and urad dal would be 1: 1/3.

That is, if you take one glass of rice, you need to take 1/3 glass of urad dal

Ingredients (For Grinder)

·         Doppi rice -   6 glasses or nazhi (Heaped)

·         Urad dal -    2 glasses (without heaping)

·         Water –

·         Salt

Method

·         Clean the rice and wash well

·         Clean the urad dal and wash well

·         Now add sumptuous amount of water to rice for soaking

·         In another vessel, add water to urad dal and allow it to soak separately

·         Soaking process will take 3 -4 hours

·         After getting the rice and dal soaked the right manner, prepare the grinder

·         Wash the grinder and remove water from it

·         Grinding process starts with adding the rice first. PS: According to the service men, you need to grind the rice first. If you choose to grind urad dal first, then grinding the rice will consume more amount of time. So I choose rice first.

·         Add rice and water. Grind it for 20-30 min in the grinder

·         Remove the rice batter from the grinder to a large vessel

·         Now add urad dal to the grinder

·         Add water and grind it to a fluffy batter

·         Remove it after it has been ground completely

·         Add this batter to the rice batter

·         Add salt. For five glasses of rice, you need to add at least 4 tsp of salt

·         Mix well with large spatula

·         Pour the batter into plastic containers to be kept inside the refrigerator for storing

·         You may place one container full of idly batter outside, so that it can rise. Use this for the next day.

·         You can make perfect Idlys or dosas the very next day.

Nadan Beef Soup- Traditional Kerala Style Beef Soup

Whenever you are not feeling good or whenever you feel like not eating anything, then soups can provide you with the right nutrition. Usually my mom used to give me soups when I had a cold or a fever. It does give a lot of relief to you when you are suffering from a cold.

Nadan Beef Soup is something which every household in Kerala is familiar with. Cooking a traditional beef soup is very simple. You simply need to put in a little bit of effort and lots of love. That’s it ;)

Usually a nadan soup is not loaded with meat. It gets that extra flavor when you add in the bone part too. If you prefer to make it with the meat part alone, then you will get a thicker version of the soup. But here I prefer the lighter version which often looks like beef stalk.

Ingredients

·         Beef – ¼ kg

·         Bone pieces- ½ kg

·         Onions- 2 large

·         Pepper powder – ½ tsp

·         Water

·         Salt

Method

·         Clean the beef pieces and bone pieces well

·         Take a pressure cooker and put the beef pieces as well as the bone pieces to it

·         Now cut the onions and add them into the pressure cooker

·         Add the right quantity of salt

·         Add in the pepper powder

·         Add one to two cups of water

·         Close the lid

·         Allow the ingredients to cook well in slow flame.

·         Make sure you lower the flame after a single whistle

·         The cooking process will take some time, as the beef pieces need to be cooked well

·         Open the lid after 20 min of slow cooking

·         Add in some more amount of water. 2 -3 cups can be added

·         Now boil the soup of 10 minutes on large flame. Do not close the lid

·         Switch off the flame after 10 minutes

·         Strain the soup with the help of a steel strainer

·         Check salt and pepper

·         Your clear nadan soup is ready to be served

·         Add the cooked beef pieces to the bowl and serve hot

·         Serve with bread toast  

Vendakka Paalkari - A Ladies Finger Specialty From God's Own Country

As  child, I remember my mom coaxing me for having my food, and all of a sudden when I see this simple and humble dish made out of ladies finger, I make up my mind to have my food without much fuss. Vendakka Palkkari is one of the favorite dishes I used to have when I was a child, and I find it as one of my favorites even to this day.

Ladies Finger or Vendakka is a vegetable which is slimy, yet tasty. We find a variety of dishes made out of Ladies finger or Vendakka in India. North Indian favorites like stuffed ladies finger is one among the popular dishes loved by all. frying ladies finger too is very tasty and healthy too.

Here I am publishing the recipe of a very simple dish made out of Ladies Finger. This is a Kerala special dish that needs only a few ingredients and a few minutes to cook too. You can serve this dish with rice or chapattis.

Vendakka Palkari is the name of the dish I am about to explain to you guys. This dish is often served to small children, as it does not have loads of spices in it. Moreover, the yummy taste of coconut milk makes the curry a special one.

Ingredients

·         Ladies finger – ¼ kg (Serves 4-5)

·         Onions – 1 cup

·         Green chilies – 2 or 3

·         Coconut Milk (Thick)- 1 cup

·         Coconut Milk (Thin) – ½ cup or a bit more

·         Salt

·         Coconut oil

Method

·         Heat a large pan

·         Add oil and heat the oil

·         Now add mustard seeds and pop them

·         Add curry leaves

·         Add finely chopped onions and green chilies to the oil

·         Saute well till light golden brown

·         Now add the ladies finger pieces into the pan and saute well so that the sliminess goes off

·         Add Thin coconut milk, add some salt and allow it to boil

·         Close the lid for 10 min

·         After 10 min, check whether the ladies finger pieces are cooked

·         Now add Thick coconut milk and let it heat

·         Do not boil

·         Check salt and switch off the flame

·         Serve with rice or chapattis

Idly Batter Bonda- The Perfect Snack For Evenings

Tea time is always fun time, when you have the perfect snack with tea. But at times, we run short of things that it is not possible to make an elegant snack. Thanks to the Idly batter left at home. This can save your evenings at times.

Well,  I really meant to say that Idly/dosa batter does come handy for making a tasty snack for evenings. And this one will become a great hit too. Idly batter bonda is the recipe for the day, and with this yummy snack, you can enjoy your tea in style.

This is an extremely easy to make snack that needs least number of ingredients with least amount of effort. So whenever you feel like having a quick and easy to make snack with tea or coffee, try this one out. You really will enjoy it a lot.

Ingredients

·         Idly Batter – Around 2 to 3 cups (Serves 2)

·         Onion/Shallots- finely chopped ( ½ cup)

·         Green chilies- 2

·         Ginger – one inched piece finely chopped

·         Curry leaves-

·         Oil- for cooking

·         Salt

Method

·         In a bowl, take sufficient quantity of idly batter

·         Add finely chopped onions, ginger, chilies, curry leaves and salt

·         Mix well

·         In a pan meant for frying unniappams, add oil for frying

·         Allow the oil to heat

·         Now with a small spoon, (teaspoon would be preferable) pour the batter into the hot oil.

·         Allow it to fry for 5 min

·         Turn them for allowing the other side to cook

·         Remove from flame

·         Place them on tissues to absorb oil

·         Serve hot with chutney

·         Enjoy with Tea or Coffee!!